The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, August 20, 1986, Image 8

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    #
CONTACT LENSES
STS?
$99
$99
ONLY QUALITY NAMK BRANDS
A Lomto, CHm, Bsrw Hlnd»-Hydrocunf)
kQO P r * # * STD
r DAILY WEAR SOFT LENSES
WB-— 4 Tn
00 p*'-* • EXTENDED WEAR SOFT LENSES
STD.
00 pr.* - TINTED SOFT LENSES
call 696-3754
FOR APPOINTMENT
* CYC CXAAA AND CARC KIT NOT INCLUDED
OPEN MONDAY THRU SATURDAY
CHARLES C. SCHROEPPEL, O.D.,P.C.
DOCTOR OF OPTOMETRY
707 SOUTH TEXAS AVE-SUITE 101D
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 77840
1 block South of Texas S University Or.
You can't lose
With Lou’s new and used!
Thousands of Aggies sell their books back to
Loupot's each semester, so they have plenty of used
books for every class you're taking
No digging through lists and piles of books to find
the ones you need for your class section — Loupot's
does all the work for you. Just hand them your
schedule and they get your books for you — before
classes start!
5—5—S—BT
‘ We care eboul Aggies • just
as we have t*r ove» SO years
Thank yew lor your business."
Ohl Army Low 32
INorthgate
335
University
Aggie Diamond Special
Buy our Diamond and
we II set it
While you wait
By appointment only
Monday, August 25
Wa.m. - 9 p.m.
Mens 20 pt diamond w/free labor $195°°
Ladies 5 pt. diamond w/fre« labor $49°°
We accept Visa. Mastercard and Discover
Post Oak Mali
764-0022
When Is Your Rental
- ! ST .iST-T*
. _ i.1 —IBB I III
No Secret'
At All?
'03 i
READ IT IN
e Battalion
Get into circulation! Let our
classified section display
your rental services . . .
it’s a fast, efficient
jl way to do business!
;
Page 8/The Battalion/Wednesday, August 20.1986
=
World and Nation
=
Tax bill could end some returns
Taxpayers with
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
compromise tax overhaul bill await
ing tinal action in (Umgress opens
the door for a bold experiment that
h> the earlv IWOs could allow SO
milium people U> avoid filing a fed
eral income tax return.
The lull calls on the Internal Rev
enue Service to report within six
months on the leasioilitv ol launch
ing a return-free system.
Should the IRS find the svstem
workable, taxpavers with the sim
plest returns — all income from
wages and interest and no itemized
deductions — would be offered the
option of not filing a return and al-
kiwtng the IRS to cakulate their tax
from documents supplied bv em
ployers and hanks.
Although members of Gonjrress
like the idea, which President Rea
gan proposed as part of his tax ImII in
Mas 19N"». House and Senate nego-
simple finances may be able to avoid filing
tiators insisted that the IRS issue a
detailed report on the cost and bene
fits before putting the plan into ef
fect. The compromise also recom
mends that the IRS first fullv test the
proposal without involving taxpav
ers.
The < ompromise me ludes these
othet provision* on which both
house* were in full or essential
agreement:
• Repeal income averaging, a tax
saving device used bv about 5.4 mil
lion taxpavers whose incomes fluc
tuate sharply from year to year. The
Senate wanted to save it for farmers
but the House refused
• Tax all unemployment com
pensation. Under present law. bene
fits of single oeople with total in
comes under >12.000 and couple*
under SiH.000 are tax free and a
share of benefits for people with
higher earnings can he exempt.
• Rrciuire all persons 5 and older
to have Social Security numbers.
• End the SI00-a-person exclu
sion for dividends.
• lax scientific and literary
awards, such as the Pulu/ei and No
bel prizes, unless the* are given to
c hat its.
• Require am person who must
file a tax return to list anv tax-
exempi interest received.
• Require that a person whose in
come is not suhfret to withholding
make quarterly estimated tax pay
ments totaling at least last year’s tax
liabiittv or 90 percent of the current
sear liabilitv. up from HO percent un
de i present law.
• Raise to I percent a month the
penaltv for not paving taxes when
due.
• Require that ever* real-estate
tiansaetK>n he reported to the IRS.
• Reduce to $70,000 (from
$80,000) the tax-free yearly amount
an American mav earn abroad
• Cut to 10 percent the tax credit
for restoring non-historic buildings
ai least 30 years old. and to 20 per
cent the credit for certified historic
structures
• Renew solar energy credits lor
business at rates of 15 percent in
I9H6. 12 percent in 1987 and 10 per
cent in 1988.
• Travel would no longer be de
ductible if the expenses were
claimed solely on grounds a trip it
self was educational.
• It would be more difficult to
claim tax deductible hobby losses
against wages and other earnings.
I ne law now considers an activity is
not a hobby (and thus is engaged in
for profit) if it is profitable in two
out of five consecutive years; that
would be changed to three out of
five.
Federal deficit may exceed
legal target by $20 billion
WASHINGTON — I he deficit ip
the new budget vear starting this fall
will exceed the legal target b\ nearly
$20 billion, and could require new
actoss-the-board slashes in spending
bv government agencies, according
to a report released Tuesdav.
I he report issued jointly by the
Office of Management and Budget
and ( ongressional Budget Office es
timated tnat the deficit in fiscal 1987
would he $163.4 billion, requiring
$19.4 billion in spending cuts to
teach the $144 iMlIion deficit target
for fiscal 1987 under the Gramm-
Kudman deficit-reduction law.
“More than a couple hundred
thousand'' sokiieis and Pentagon
employees would have to be dis
missed and many othet programs
would have to he sharply curtailed,
said Rudolph ti. Pennei, direc tor of
the ( BO
OMB Director James G Millet III
cautioned, however, that it was
"really hvpothetic al" to describe the
effec ts of the cuts now. “I think Ca»n-
gress will respond to this," he said.
Millet said the administration would
he proposing new user lees for gov
ernment services, including highei
charges for federally-backed mort
gages. to raise about $14 billion next
vear.
The report would serve as the
blueprint for automatm spending
cuts if (amgress restored enforce
ment powers under the Gramm-
Rudman Act. authoritv for which
was voided earliet this vear bv the
Supieme ( cun t (amgress also could
vote to impose the cuts even without
an automatic trigger sc heme, subjec t
to presidential veto.
liemcxratM and Republican lead
ers alike have vowed to reduce the
deficit to within $10 billion of the
Gramm-Rudman target, the point al
which the automatic cuts would he
lecimred.
But I uesday's report reflected
ihe fact that Congress has so far
filled to enac t any of the money-sav
ing features of the budget for fiscal
1987. whic h takes effec t on Oct. I.
If Gramm Rudman were restored
beginning m Octobei. for example,
the Pentagon would have to cut its
spending bv hall the total cut re-
qtiired, >9.7 billion, or 5.6 perc ent of
the defense budget, ami domestic
programs would nave to be slashed
In 7.6 percent to absorb the other
$9.7 billion.
Civil Service and military retirees
would lose then cost-of-living raises
tot the second straight vear. How
ever, the law protects Social Security
reti|»ent* from the cutbacks, along
with ma|or poverty programs and
veterans compensation.
Soviets say Israeli talks ‘a failure’
MOSCOW (AP) — Talks with Is
rael were a failure, the Israelis were
“aitogam” m bringing up the issue
of Soviet Jews and the Kremlin ref u
sal to resume diplomatic relations re
mains firm, a government spokes
man said I uesdav.
Israeli officials in Helsinki ex
pressed surprise at tiennadv (Gerasi
mov’s sharp tone. The talks were
held in the Finnish capital Monday,
scheduled to last two davs. hut the
Soviet delegation broke them off al
ter 90 minutes.
I he Israelis said they thought the
meeting was positive and suggested
the Soviet Union was trying to be
little M to forestall Arab critic ism.
Soviet and Israeli delegations met
to disc uss a Soviet proposal to send a
delegation to Israel to check hold
ings of the Russian Orthodox
Church. lunctMinmg of the Soviet in
terest section al the Finnish F'mbassv
and the status of Soviet citizens liv
ing in Israel. Many of the Soviet resi
dents are Russian Orthodox priests
and nuns.
Although ttie talks were ended
ahrufttlv, the Israeli officials said
they were not disappointed and the
contacts would continue after both
sides rejMirted to their governments.
(•erasimov. spokesman lor the
Foreign Ministry, said no further
contac ts were discussed.
Judge won't
dismiss Union
Carbide's $1.37
million fine •
CHARLESTON. W Va (AP)
— An administrative law judge
1 uesdav declined to dismiss a
$1.37 million fine levied against
Union Carbide (k>rp. by federal
officials, who accused the chemi
cal giant of more than 200 safetv
violations.
judge James Burroughs, in
dismissing a company motion,
said he would hold hearings on
whether to uphold the fine, the
largest ever issued by the Occupa
tional Safety and Health Admin
istration.
Burroughs set no date for the
hearing on the citations, the re
sult of a six-month inspection of
the plant in Institute that foi-
lowed a series of chemicaJ leaks,
including the Bhopal disaster
Fhe fine has not been paid
while Carbide seeks to overturn
it. arguing that federal safetv in
spectors ignored the alleged vio
lations for years.
Carbide claims OSH A must file
citations within six months of al
leged infractions. But OSH A law
yer Marshal Harris said compa
nies are required to keep records
lor five vears, and OSH A can file
citations at any time in that pe
riod.
Leader calls list of detainees ‘callous’
JOHANNESBURG. South Africa
(AP) — Identifying detainees with a
non-alphahetKal list of more than
8.500 names shows callousness to
ward relatives who must search it for
davs to find loved ones, an opposi
tion leader said Tuesday.
The government presented Pai-
liament on Monday with the list,
which names people being held un
der the stale of emergency imposed
June 12. It does not include ad
dresses. ages or where the people
were arrested.
“Even in the releasing ol these
names, the government displays in
sensitivity to its own citizens and to
ward the families of detameees,’*
said David I)allmg, the opposition
Progressive Federal Party ipokrs-
man on justice and the media.
“ This 8,500-long list is not even al
phabetical ami it will take people
days, il not weeks, to locate names of
specitk people who have been detai
ned," he said.
“Detention without trial is had
enough, but allowing people to be
on a disappeared list for months on
end without police confirmation dis
plays a horrendous lack of compas
sion towards ordinary human beings
and then rights." Dailing said. “It
also makes the job of the press totally
impossible."
President P.W. Botha's govern
ment said Tuesday it will give Parlia
ment weekly lists of people detained
for more tHan 30 days under the
state ol emergency, supplementing
the original list.
Several groups that monitor de
tentions said Tuesday they knew of
detainees who were not on the list
revealed Monday, when Parliament
began a special session. It was the
first time the government had iden
tified the people detained under the
state of emergency. The list was
drawn up to comply with the Public
Safetv Act, on which Botha based
the emergency declaration.
The act requires that Parliament
be given the identities of profile held
for more than 30 davs without
charge. No list was presented until
Monday because Parliament had not
been in session.
According to the Detainees’ Par
ents Support Committee, more than
12.000 people have been detained
during the emergency but many
were released before the report to
Parliament or had been held lor less
than 30 days.
Two newspapers in Gape Town,
where Parliament sits, published the
government list m Tuesday editions.
T he report to Parliament by Louis
le (Grange, minister of law and or
der. listed 8,551 detainees' names,
newspapers reported Tuesday. The
South African Wess Asscxiation had
reported 8,501 Monday, but
changed the figure to 8,551 Tues
day. Le Grange did not provide an
official count.
Agreement sought before orbit
Star Wars ‘needs arms talks’
LIVERMORE. Calif (AP) — Sci
entists designing Star Wars sav it
mav be impossible to orbit the weap
ons until a detailed arms agreement
with the Soviet I 'nion is worked out.
Space-based weapons can be ex
tremely vulnerable to attack, espe
cially at the moment they are put
into orbit, said Robert Ferret, chief
of a unit at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory which is as
signed to examine and test weapons
policy.
“In a historical perspective, the
Soviets have demonstrated the na
tional will to oppose in an active and
violent way actions which they find
threatening, if they can." said Ferret,
citing the Russian destruction of a ci
vilian Korean airliner in 1983 and
the downing of an U.S. U-2 spy
plane flown by Gary Powers in 1960.
“If some kind of agreement can
be rear bed that protects the deploy
ment phase for both sides, then you
can get past a fairly hard point," said
Ferret, who acknowledges that his
troublevime questions mav have
“been a thorn in the side" of the Pen
tagon in the earlv stages of other
weapons systems.
President Reagan has strenuously
denied that he will allow the Soviets
to have a veto over Star Wars re
search or deployment, and main
tains that the program is not a bar
gaining chip to be traded away for a
cut in offensive weapons.
An official speaking on condition
of anonymity said, “It would be vas
tly more desirable if we could reac h
an agreement to amend the Anti-
BallistK Missile treaty and reduce of
fensive weapons before we deploy
space-based defenses. "
The State Department official.
considered it unlikely that the Sovi
ets would, as Ferret suggested, shoot
down orbiting defenses as America
sends them up, but the prospect
clearly upset him. “It would be a
provocation," he said. "We would
nave to respond."
In recent speeches, Reagan has
emphasized that strategic defenses
must go hand in hand with arms
control, and a team of senior Ameri
can negotiators went to Moscow this
month to talk with the Russians
about linking Star Wars with reduc
tions in nuclear arsenals.
However, the Strategic Defense
Initiative is still in the research stage,
and administration officials have not
publicly cnitlined how an agreement
would be structured to allow deploy
ment ol missile defenses.
Reagan has resisted pressure
from conservative critics pushing for
immediate deployment of ground-
hased anti-missile missiles capable of
shcxiting down warheads as they ap
proach their target
Much ol the research on the space
leg of strategic defense is being car
ried out at Livermore, a Department
of Energy lab adminmistered by the
University of Galtforma.
Ferret and other Livermore scien
tists who back Star Wars go further
than administration officius in stres
sing the link between negcxiations
and strategic defense
(George Millet, director of weap
ons development at Livermore, ob
jects to viewing strategic defense "as
a bargaining chip to be thrown in
when the Soviets agree to cuts in
strategic arms."
The research program has got to
continue," Miller said.